These were taken late in 2011, the weather was bad and it was really too far of a shot for my 18-125mm. I've been working on my Photoshop skills and cleaned them up a bit
Eagle Seward 1 by sherpa1d, on Flickr

Had this encounter around 2 weeks ago. Without a doubt the highlight encounter of this summer for me and considering the circumstances I wasn't expecting anything close to this this summer. It is rare to have everything fall into place in wildlife photography... this was one of those times.

It took place down a summer road, a raod farmers sometimes make themselves for access to thier crops/cattle, made by the farmer next door. He had given me permission to use it and access his land for photography. I had been taking short drives down this road every second day for the past week looking for a big buck he had spotted and told me about a few weeks prior... supposedly an 18 pointer.... still haven't seen him though.

So anyways as I was driving along this is how I found this sparrow hawk in the distance...

I got a few pics and for some reason left it at that... no idea why though. I continued on to the end of the road and turned around to come back. When I reached the stretch of road where I had spotted him I slowed right down. It was now within that golden hour time so I was hoping for the best. As I drove I could see him in the distance so I slowed down. He was eating something so I decided to get close, drop the car in neutral and coast as close to him as possible. To my surprise he didn't even lift his head until the car was right beside him 11 meters away. After about 20 minutes of hunting and returning to the same post to eat he switched poles after catching another dragonfly. When I moved the car to get closer he once again ignored me and allowed me to watch him for another 40 minutes or so. In that time I took 102 pics. I kept 73 all of which quality wise are the same as the ones below.

These were the results... talk about a golden hour...

As time was progressing I found myself raising the ISO over and over to keep the shutter speed high enough. Just as I was reaching the limit he took off, caught another dragonfly, and landed on the post on the other side of the road putting himself perfectly in position between me and the sun... what a way to end the encounter. Without a doubt the highligh of my summer and definately one of my most intimate wildlife encounters....

For about a year before the accident I was lucky enough to be asked to give slideshow presentations at photography courses held throughout western canada on wildlife photography and over and over I was told my pics were awesome but what drew them in was the stories I told which went along with the pics... I love sharing the stories behind my pics as much as I love taking the pics themselves. Wildlife really is my passion... sharing pics is one thing and I hope they make a few people more aware of what this earth has to offer in regards to its natural beauty but sharing the stories behind the pics, in my mind, allows people to experience a more intimate connection with my pics and hopefully sparks just a little more intensity in their love for and appreciation of our natural world. With this in mind if this, in even the smallest of ways, makes just one person take a more active role in the conservation of our wild places it makes it all worth while.

Totally agreed, I love wildlife, and nature in general, because it's just so beautiful and the fact that people tell stories like yours, it makes me love nature even more, it's so interesting in just about every way, and so beautiful as always